BHOPAL: Not just pamphlets, short videos on smartphones are being used to propagate left-wing extremism in the dense Naxal-affected jungles of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Use of videos to promote ideology and connect more with villagers in the forests of Balaghat district (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) and Gondia (Maharashtra) is on the rise in the three states. The latest incident has been reported from Bhurka Tola village in Garhi area of Balaghat district, where short videos of a minute or more have been shared on villagers’ smartphones by Naxals.
Sources at the Madhya Pradesh police headquarters in Bhopal said the incident came to light on the intervening night of March 14-15 in Balaghat district. “Not only did the Naxal extremists, possibly the members of the Vistar platoon of the Maoists, distribute pamphlets supporting their extremist ideology among villagers, but the outlaws who were carrying electronic gadgets, including tablet computers, also shared short promotional videos to promote their ideology among the villagers,” IG (Intelligence) of MP police Makarand Deouskar told The Sunday Standard.
“It’s possibly the first time that use of videos by Naxals to spread their extremist ideology has been reported in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district,” he added. According to a police officer deployed for anti-Naxal operations at the Balaghat-Rajnandgaon-Gondia tri-junction, this may be the first time that such activity has been reported in the MP jungles, but similar incidents are not unheard of in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. “The Naxals have realised that tapping the power of smartphones and social media to spread promotional videos is more potent than sticking to pamphlet war,” the officer said.
The issue of video war complementing the pamphlet war was taken up at a recent coordination meeting of anti-Naxal forces in the three states, at which senior intelligence officers were present.The meeting, held after the killings of CRPF personnel in an IED blast in Sukma, also took stock of Maoists’ operations and possible future plans.
Sources said with the increase in anti-Naxal camps on the Balaghat-Rajnandgaon border, the Naxals have started shifting their operations to the upper reaches of the hills that form the MP-Chhattisgarh border. The inroads the Naxals’ Vistar platoon are making in Kawardha district of Chhattisgarh and Mandla district of MP could be result of this shift.
Data usage highest in Naxal-affected areas
The Naxal-hit areas across nine states brought under mobile coverage in 2016 have recorded consumption of 400 GB of data per day on 2G network of the sole service provider BSNL, as per a joint statement of the state-owned firm and network vendor VNL issued last year.